Can Roma go 12-0 to close out the season?

Roma have only one way forward to stay relevant in this year’s Scudetto race: a 12 game win streak to end the season. 3 down, 9 to go. Or more pointedly, Roma needs absolute perfection from here on out.

There are 9 games left for AS Roma on the Serie A schedule and they will need to win all 9 matches, ending the season with 86 total points, to just maybe have the slightest chance of catching Juventus or Napoli.

To Roma’s credit, over their last 3 Italian league matches, Roma have looked like the squad to reckon with in the Serie A. Make no mistake though, the chances of Roma winning the Scudetto is long and narrow with no room for error. While also necessitating an insane amount of luck along the way. Even history is against them in their quest as no Italian side has won the Scudetto with less than 87 points since the 2011-2012 season when Juventus won the title with 84 total points on the season.

The unlikely situation reads like this; a draw for the Capital city side and the Scudetto chances become almost impossible, a loss and mathematically they will be immediately eliminated. If either of these two outcomes in any game occurs, Pallotta’s dream of bringing a title to the capital city will once again be swept away, and Roma will have to wait until next August to start searching for their first title since the 2000-2001 campaign. An idea all the more painful when the Scudetto title was so plausible for Roma going into this seasons’ Christmas break.

For most Roma fans, hopes of a league title set sail in early January following a string of horrible performances. But now, Roma find themselves with the easiest path over the next 9 games to secure the most points of any of the other top 7 teams. Lazio and Juventus are the only Roma games left of note, the other 7 fixtures all against teams in bottom two-thirds of the current table.

That being said, the Romans also need some serious help from the rest of the Serie A in order for a historic run, closing a gap of 16 points, to finish out the season. Of the remaining 27 points that are currently available for all three of the top squads, Napoli only need to secure 14 points to mathematically eliminate Roma, a mere 4 wins, and 2 ties. Juve similarly only need 12 of the possible points remaining, or 4 wins, to eliminate any chance of Roma taking the top spot. In essence, Napoli and Juventus, two teams with a combined loss total of only four over the course of the Seria A this season, both have to lose 4 or 5 out of the next 9 games each, in order for Roma to still have a fighting chance.

It is a long shot no doubt, but Juve have more than half their remaining against the other top 7 teams, potentially dropping 15 across those 5 games while Napoli has a slightly easier path facing only 3 teams of similar stature. Yet without perfection from Roma to for the remainder through May, there is no hope.

Stranger things have happened in sports, especially when considering Roma’s performances over the past three Serie A games, starting with the win in Naples. Roma is finally morphing into the championship level squad that was vying for the title just 10 weeks ago, and the possibility of perfection is not a total impossibility. Ultimately, Roma need to find themselves in the mouth of the wolf to pull this one off.

Related

Subscribe to AS ROMA 360

Born in Milwaukee, SPQR, currently living in Vermont. Owner/operator at Hostel Tevere. Husband and Father. Bartender. Packers, AS Roma, Brewers. Writing about all the stuff that makes me tick.
Gilesasmith@gmail.com